Fear is in the Eye of the Dragon I: Brave Hearts
by Frostforge44
Summary: Book One of Two. After a traumatic experience, Tori Korrinston has been struck with an extreme fear of dragons. With the battle with the Red Death over with, life has never been harder for her. So, Hiccup takes it upon himself to take her under his wing and show her that the winged beasts aren't as beastly as she thinks. Easy enough to do? Not even close.
1. Lesson 1: To Touch a Dragon

**Hello, hello! Well, first of all, I'm Frosty. I'm really glad to start a fanfic for one of my favorite movies of all time! I hope that you guys like the first chapter. I know it's a bit all over the place, but I promise it will get better. **

**Anyway, I'm hoping to get positive feedback at best and some constructive criticism at worst. Before anyone can ask, the line in italics at the beginning is the sort of message narrated by Hiccup. That's just something I think he would say. I can't guarantee that there'll be a whole lot more, but I can say that there will be at least two more throughout the story and a final message on the final chapter.**

**So, without further ado, I don't own HTTYD (though it would be so cool if I did!). I only own my OC, Tori Korrinston, and her parents. I hope you enjoy it!**

_"__Change. It's probably the scariest and most inevitable thing in the world. Nobody knows why it happens and nothing can ever stop it from happening. Heck, not many people are ever even prepared for it. The only thing you can really do is to try to adapt to it. Of course, it's easier said than done…"_

* * *

><p>"Great flight today, Toothless," Hiccup smiled, stroking Toothless' neck as they landed into the village. "What do ya say we get something to eat, huh?"<p>

Toothless purred, grumbling in his throat in approval. Hiccup nodded as he got off, patting the dragons head as he peered around the village, "I think that Tori should be back with the fish by now…"

The Night Fury's ear plates perked at the call of a yak, one pulling the fish wagon with Tori Korrinston at the reins. She was a rather thin and frail girl, pale and scrawny, much like Hiccup himself. It was hard to tell what emotion her face held, mainly because it was hidden by her long, black bangs and a fur-lined hood that she always kept up. She was also hardly dressed for a fight, again like Hiccup, and wore only dark violet and brown wool and cotton clothing.

"Hey, Tori!"

Tori squeaked a bit, startling both herself and the yak when she yanked on the reins and made him come to a stop. She breathed heavily as she brushed her raven-colored bangs back and got herself settled down.

"Oh, h-hey, Hiccup…" she greeted with a shy smile. Her head turned away slightly at the sight of Toothless as she quietly added, "I've got your order of salmon and cod right here in the front…"

Toothless gave out a pleased growl before climbing up onto the wagon. Tori gasped and pushed herself back as the Night Fury came closer and closer to her while trying to open the baskets full of fish.

"Whoa, bud! Slow down!" Hiccup pulled down on his saddle, but the dragon was more than eager to get some of the fish. He climbed up further, finally managing to get one of the basket lids open and began eating away. Tori yelped as she fell off the wagon, grunting as she fell face-down on the ground.

"Sorry, Tori," Hiccup apologized, helping the Viking girl to her feet. "Toothless gets a little…excited with salmon and cod."

Tori nervously brushed the dirt off of her, "It's okay, Hiccup. I know he didn't mean any harm."

Turning back to the wagon, Toothless was lying on top of the wagon with his green eyes lazily shut and his belly full. The boy rubbed the back of his neck as he commented, "Uh…I'll pay for any extra fish that Toothless ate."

"It's fine. I actually had a few extra pounds of fish I needed to get rid of, anyway," Tori shrugged faintly, rubbing her arm as she tried her best to curb her anxiety. Finally, she let her arm fall to her side as she muttered, "Well, I should get this to my father and get back to my chores. I'll see you later…"

"Yeah. Bye," Hiccup awkwardly waved as Toothless climbed off the wagon. Tori settled into her spot and commanded the yak to continue, which it did with a grunt. When she was just out of earshot, he shook his head a bit as he commented, "Still as shy as usual…and still as afraid of dragons as usual."

Toothless garbled a bit as he looked at his companion before looking at the fishing teen. He cocked his head a bit, curious as to why Tori was so frightened of him and the others. They never lifted a threatening wing or paw at her since they settled down, so why was she so afraid?

Hiccup sighed, patting Toothless on the snout, "Maybe that's something we can work on next…"

* * *

><p>Later on that evening, Hiccup was slumped in his chair, reading over the defense drills that were to be ran tomorrow. Toothless was comfortably curled up nearby, snoring softly as he napped.<p>

Stoick, who stopped running the sharpening stone on his axe, sighed heavily, causing Hiccup to hang his head. When his father sighed like that, he knew it meant something important to say. And not everything that was important was always pleasant to talk about.

"Hiccup," he started, making his son lift his head in acknowledgement. "I know you don't particularly like the idea, but this is important."

_Yup. Important. Called it_, Hiccup thought semi-triumphantly.

"I know, Dad," the dragon trainer gave out a sigh of his own. "I can't be head of the Dragon Academy _and _be chief."

"Precisely," Stoick nodded, continuing to sharpen his weapon. "That's why I think you should choose one of the other teenagers as an apprentice. Teach'em everything they'll need to know to keep teaching at the academy."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, but then suddenly perked up as he asked, "So…that would mean that I would, hypothetically, have my apprentice close with the dragons? Teach them everything we know about dragons?"

"Exactly."

"And, again hypothetically, would my apprentice need to get a dragon of her, or his, own?" Hiccup asked, suddenly getting up from his seat.

"Yes, that's what I-" Stoick suddenly stopped, setting down his axe before looking towards his son with a suspicious look, "Hiccup, I have a feeling that all of these 'hypothetical' questions aren't that hypothetical. What do you have in mind?"

* * *

><p>"Ye want me daughter te do WHAT?!"<p>

"Agmund, please!" Verna, wife of Agmund and mother of Tori Korrinston, hushed gently. Honestly, it was a wonder that Tori wasn't down the stairs asking what all the fuss was about.

"Please, Agmund. I really think that this would be really good for Tori," Hiccup explained, only he and his father present. He had left Toothless outside in the event that Tori had been in the room, but now he could always set this up as a surprise. "It's one thing to be scared of dragons, but she can't go on the rest of her life in fear of them."

Stoick decided that now would be an excellent time to cut in, "Agmund, as much as you're against this and as much as Tori means to you, I have to agree with my son. I can assure you that your daughter will be in safe, capable hands."

Hiccup couldn't help but smile a bit, proud of himself that he had gained his father's confidence.

"She _is _in capable hands, isn't she, Hiccup?" Stoick turned back to his son with a raised eyebrow.

And then that pride went right down the drain. His shoulder's slumped before he gave Verna and Agmund a good-natured grin, "Of course. And, just for emotional support, we'll do everything one little baby step at a time. I swear, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

Agmund turned away slightly, his head slightly down in thought. Hiccup gave his father a sideways glance, almost as if asking silently, _Think I got through to him?_

After a long moment of silence, Agmund looked back with a sternness in his tone, "Fine. If it'll be better for her, I'll allow it. But listen closely, Hiccup, if I get one whiff or one word of trouble, I don' want ye ever comin' near her again. Is that understood?"

Agmund was one of the few Vikings who was classified as "being in the middle" when it came to size, so Hiccup wasn't necessarily intimidated by his size. However, he could tell by his glare and tone that he was serious through and through.

"Thanks, Agmund. I swear when I'm done with Tori, you won't even recognize her."

When the parents gave him a bit of a harsh look, he backtracked and corrected, "I mean…you won't be disappointed. I'll swing by and bring her by the academy when she gets back from fishing tomorrow."

Agmund nodded stiffly, "Very well. Remember, I've got me eye on you."

Hiccup smiled in triumph, happy enough to get this far. Now all he had to do was get Tori to the academy and get started on her training. Shouldn't be too hard…

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you're bringing Tori to the academy?" Astrid asked incredulously as her friend paced back and forth. "You do remember why she hasn't come around here before, right?"<p>

"I know, Astrid. She's terrified of dragons. And that's why we need to be as gentle as possible when she gets here. The twins should be back with her any minute."

Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout looked to him with unbelievable looks, "You tell us to be _sensitive_, yet you sent the _twins_ to get her?"

"Yeah, even _I'm _not stupid enough to do that," Snotlout smirked.

Hiccup stopped, shrugging sheepishly as he said, "Yeah, not my best idea, but if she can handle the twins, she should be able to at least handle some dragons."

Fishlegs mulled it over, and then shrugged as well, "True. Very true."

At that moment, the teenagers turned to the entrance as they heard the flapping of wings. Barf and Belch zoomed in, with their riders upon their necks and a shivering, dark violet mass hanging from Barf's jaws.

"GUYS! What are you doing?! Put Tori down!" Hiccup exclaimed. "I told you guys not to use your dragon!"

"Yeah, well it's not like we had much of a choice," Tuffnut explained, leaning casually on Belch's head as Barf lowered Tori to the ground. "We tried asking her to come with us, but then she ran away."

Hiccup's shoulders slumped dramatically and a slight scowl formed on his face as he stated, "And you have no idea why she might've done that?"

"Nope," Ruffnut shook her head, nudging Barf to release Tori. "Besides, you told us to get her here, and we did."

The second that the Hideous Zippleback's jaws left Tori's shirt, she scrambled back against the water trough. The poor thing was shaking in fear at the pure terror of being scooped up in a dragon's jaws.

"Uh…sorry about that, Tori," Hiccup apologized as he knelt down next to her. "I kinda asked them to bring you here, just not that way."

"I don't know what we did wrong," Ruffnut said. "We found Tori and told her we had a surprise for her, that's all. Then she just ran away from us."

Fishlegs looked up from stroking Meatlug's head, "Um…don't you guys remember the last time you told Tori you had a surprise for her?"

Hicup looked up from the timid girl and answered for them, "No. Please enlighten us, Fishlegs."

"I can't believe you guys don't remember! It happened like three years ago. Tori ended up in a trough with those biting eels and crabs!"

"Uh, correction. We did that to Ingrid Frollinson," Tuffnut corrected smugly, crossing his arms in triumph.

Astrid shook her head as she countered, "No, I remember that. You guys stuffed Ingrid's boots with chicken eggs. Tori's the one who ended up in the trough."

The look of deep thought crossed the faces of the twins. Well, at least as deep as they could possibly go when it came to thinking. Their pool of thoughts and reason was quite a shallow one. Finally, realization came upon their faces.

"Oh yeah," Tuffnut nodded. "It's comin' back to me…that was totally awesome!"

"Yeah! We gotta do that again!" Ruffnut grinned along with her brother.

Hiccup then interrupted with an unexpected sharpness, "But not now, and especially _not_ with Tori!"

Under normal circumstances, none of the other teens would have been intimidated by a threat made by Hiccup, if you could even call it a threat. However, when you put that "threat" along with a harsh glare from Astrid, people tend to think twice before challenging it.

"Fine," Tuffnut gave out a heavy sigh in disappointment.

"Uh…again, I'm really sorry about this Tori," Hiccup continued on from before. She appeared to have calmed down considerably since her body was no longer shaking. Still, she continued to breath heavily and was sure to keep herself at a good distance away from the dragons.

"Wh-why am I here? What do you guys want with me?"

"I am actually glad you asked that," Hiccup said, trying to add great enthusiasm to his voice as he said continued. "Today is the day when you are gonna start dragon training! Yay!"

There was an awkward, and no other word could describe it, silence between them all. The other trainers had strange looks on their faces, Hiccup was giving Tori an expecting glance, and the girl herself…well, with the hood it was hard to tell what she was thinking.

"What?" she finally replied.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Hiccup asked with a bit of a forced smile. "I talked with your parents last night and you are now my apprentice. When I'm no longer able to run the academy, you'll be there to take my place."

When the chief-to-be mentioned choosing Tori as an apprentice, Snotlout and the twins couldn't help but snicker to themselves. However, when he brought up how Tori would one day take over, their looks of amusement were replaced with indignity and shock.

"WHAT?!"

"You've gotta be kidding! _She's_ going to be the new leader of the Dragon Training Academy?!" Tori flinched at the volume of Snotlout's voice. "She doesn't even have a dragon!"

"Correction. She won't even go _near_ a dragon," Ruffnut interjected.

With a roll of the eyes and a sigh, Hiccup turned to them and said, "Believe me, that's not going to happen for a long time. Besides, she'll only take over once I become chief."

"I ask again: WHY HER?!" Snotlout bellowed, harshly throwing his arms in her direction.

"Yeah, why me?" Tori asked uncertainly. "I don't understand…"

"First of all, what was going on when I said to be 'gentle'?" Hiccup asked the Jorgenson boy, who huffed with crossed arms and turned away sharply. He turned to Tori and gently explained, "Look, Tori, we all know that you don't really see eye-to-eye with the dragons. I know that they seem scary, but that's why I decided to do this for you. You can't spend the rest of your life living in fear of them if they're going to be around you every day."

Tori bit her lip, looking as if she wanted to say something, but stopped herself. She stiffened when she felt something nudge against her side, yelping when Toothless' face came into her line of vision. Tori tried scooting along the water trough and away from the Night Fury only to feel her back collide with another dragon's snout. Meatlug had a large smile on her face as she let her tongue loll out of the side of her mouth.

"See?" Hiccup pointed out. "The dragons love you. I'm not asking much, Tori. All I'm asking is for you to try. Please."

Tori gulped and nodded swiftly, "Okay, I'll try! But could you please just call them off?"

"C'mon, girl," Fishlegs pulled the Gronckle back a few steps. When Meatlug whimpered a bit and looked away in sadness, he gave her soothing strokes as he whispered, "It's not you, Meatlug. She's just not ready yet."

"All right, Toothless. Easy," Hiccup patted the Night Fury on the head as he backed away a bit. "Great. Now that that's done, let's get started."

Tori used the trough to help herself up to her feet. She dusted off her top before hesitantly asking, "So…how do we begin…?"

"Well, we should probably start by getting rid of that hood. Dragons like to be looked in the eye when you're training them," Astrid said, pushing down the hood, only for her to quirk an eyebrow at the new problem.

Tori's black hair was short, but it still managed to cover the top part of her face and blocked almost all eye contact. Astrid sighed, setting her hands on her hips before saying, "Okay…better, but now we need to do something about that hair in your eyes."

"Oh, I could put it up, if that would help…" At the shield madien's curt nod, Tori turned over to the water trough. She started running her fingers through her hair and tried to fix it up.

"Um, Astrid? How is this supposed to help?" Fishlegs asked in a whisper.

"Well, its true. One of the crucial basics of bonding with dragons is eye contact," Hiccup reasoned. "It will be easier on her and it will be easier on the dragons."

Snotlout rolled his eyes as he asked, "And why do we care again?"

Hiccup sighed and smacked his forehead as Tuffnut shrugged, "I got nothing."

"Hey, is this okay?"

The jaws of the boys dropped as they got a good look at Tori. Though some of her bangs still hung down, it was still short enough to reveal more of her face. It was hardly enough to say that they were shocked that she'd hide such a pretty face: high cheekbones, small round nose, and large, violet eyes that emphasized her shyness.

"Much better," Astrid nodded in approval. Hiccup did the same in agreement.

"Good. I think the best way to for you to start would be to-"

Like a swarm of bees to a flower, Snotlout and Tuffnut had Tori surrounded. She jerked back, obviously startled by the sudden and unexpected attention.

"Tori, I know I've never said this to your face, but I'm gonna now," Tuffnut said as he draped an arm around her shoulder. "I've always thought you were hot."

Ruffnut gagged in mild disgust while Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes. Hiccup shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he said, "Guys-"

"Hey, back off!" Snotlout threw the male twin away from Tori. Said girl try to inch away from the dogfight, only to be harshly pulled back by the Jorgenson boy. He smirked at her smugly as he said, "I think we all know that Tori wants to be with a _real _Viking."

Astrid, finally seeing enough, shook her head and decided to intervene. She twisted Snotlout's arm, making him cringe and loosen his grip on Tori, who scurried out of the grip instantly.

"We're trying to make Tori less afraid of dragons, not more afraid of you."

She threw him down on the ground hard, brushing her bangs out of her eyes as she went back to Hiccup's side.

"Thank you, Astrid," he said. "As I was saying, I think that the best way for someone like you to start is to touch a dragon. Toothless."

At the sound of his name, the Night Fury came to his rider's side and nudged him affectionately. Hiccup stroked his head before saying, "For your first lesson, I want you to hold out your hand and let Toothless press his head against it."


	2. Lesson 2: To Bond with a Dragon

**Well, its chapter two and boy am I glad! We're going to pick up the pace a little bit starting with the next chapter. So, without further ado, I do not own HTTYD. I only own Tori, her parents, Blyn, and Shoo. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

Tori's right hand trembled a bit as she held it out with her palm facing the Night Fury. The two were quite a bit of distance from each other, she on one end of the arena and Toothless on the other. The other trainers were off to the side with their dragons to watch the first lesson unfold.

"Um…I have a question," Tuffnut whispered. "Why are we doing this? Why can't we just get Tori a dragon for her to practice on?"

"Because we need to get Tori comfortable around other dragons before we can even think of getting her one," Fishlegs quietly explained.

"Exactly," Hiccup nodded, then called out to Tori, "Okay, Tori! Are you ready?"

With a heavy gulp, she answered, "About as ready as I'll ever be."

"Good! In this lesson, there are two important things to keep in mind: first, it's never a good idea to just walk up to a wild dragon. When you hold out your hand, you do half the work and Toothless will meet you the rest of the way."

"O-okay," she nodded, taking a few cautious steps forward. With the nod of his trainer, Toothless started forward as well, though at a slow pace.

"And the other important thing is that dragons can sense your fear. So try to be as relaxed as possible," Astrid said.

Tori shuddered a bit when she stopped at the spot that Hiccup had marked down. Toothless stopped for a moment as well, and then came forward.

"That's it. You're doing good Tori," Hiccup told her. When he got a look from Astrid that read 'Is she?' He merely shrugged and replied, "Well, she isn't backing off. So we have to be doing something right."

"YEAH!" the two flinched and glared at Snotlout and Tuffnut. The Jorgenson boy clapped his hands loudly as he cheered, "WHOO! Get'em, babe!"

"Please, I can cheer louder than that!" Tuffnut elbowed him roughly before shouting on the top of his lungs, "GO TORI! YOU PET THAT DRAGON!"

Tori cringed and closed her hand as she brought it back slightly. Toothless growled at the two boys and fired a small plasma blast at their feet. Not big enough to do damage, but just enough to get them to shut up. They were off the ground in an instant, hiding behind Hookfang and Belch in an instant.

The Night Fury turned his attention back onto Tori, who had her hand pulled back the whole way and looked completely terrified. He cocked his head a little, humming a bit as he sat down. In an attempt to rekindle the small amount of bravery that she had and show that he was no real threat to her, he shakily opened his mouth and gave her a gummy smile.

"Toothless, don't do that," Hiccup groaned. "That's not really helping…"

"Actually, it kind of is," Astrid stated, gesturing to Toothless and Tori.

Hiccup's eyebrows arched as he saw that Toothless actually was helping. Tori had a small smile on her face in amusement at his own gummy grin. It dissipated just a little as she once again held her hand out, open palm and all, though it was still trembling in anticipation.

Toothless came forward once again and when he was just mere inches from her hand, he paused. The dragon gave a few curious sniffs before he closed his eyes and pressed his snout against her hand. Tori gasped a little and almost shot her hand away from the Night Fury until Hiccup said,

"No, no, no. You're doing fine, Tori. Just keep your hand there for a few more seconds."

She stood rigidly still and kept her hand planted on the Night Fury's snout for what felt like long, painful hours. But in reality, it only was five seconds.

"And…good job, Tori," she breathed out as she pulled her hand away. Toothless blinked at her with his pupils full and round and purred loudly.

"That was a good start," Hiccup applauded. "Why don't we give that another go with one of the other dragons?"

Tori shrunk back a bit, but reluctantly agreed, "O-okay…which one?"

He merely spread his arms out to the trained dragons, "You're the student. You pick."

Almost immediately, Snotlout and Tuffnut were at attention while still mounted on their dragons. Hookfang and Belch both leaned towards the girl, making her stumble back and fall to the ground.

"One dragon, ready for pettin', babe. No need to thank me," Snotlout winked at her.

"Why have one when you can have two?" Tuffnut had Barf and Belch push past Hookfang and stopped just a few inches away from Tori. Meatlug suddenly roared at the two, her eyes narrowed menacingly as if to say 'Back off!'

Tori smiled a bit, touched by the Gronkle's actions, and hesitantly reached out a hand. She knew that Meatlug was somewhat hurt when she turned her away and the dragon meant no harm at all, so she wanted to make things right. Since Toothless was the first, Tori would make sure she was the second.

Meatlug continued to hiss and growl until she felt Tori's hand make contact with the side of her head. Her pupils dilated as they went to Tori before her tail started to wag happily. Tori patted her rough, bumpy skin as she got back onto her feet.

"Wow, you are just breezing through the steps," Hiccup nodded, feeling a great spark of hope ignite within him. "This'll be easier then I-OW! What was that for?!"

Astrid crossed her arms and shrugged, "Every time you say 'this'll be easier than I thought,' everything backfires. So why don't we save that for when we actually get Tori on a dragon of her own."

As he rubbed his sore arm, Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, but then shut it. Astrid did have a point. He wasn't a passionate believer in superstition, but with a case like Tori, better to be safe than sorry. He would have to save the self-assurance for when Tori was on her own dragon…which he was hoping would be soon.

* * *

><p><em>The Night Fury. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. The proper way to train a Night Fury is to first get his or her attention, and then earn his or her trust. This can be done with the simple offering of a fish and showing the Night Fury that you mean no harm by not carrying any weapons.<em>

Tori's eyes were in a focused haze while scanning over the information within the Book of Dragons. It was a small assignment from Hiccup to study from the book as much as she could every day. According to him, one of the best ways to face her fears was to understand them better.

So, there she sat in the Great Hall with nothing more than the book, some water, and an apple for a snack. She had only gotten through with three chapters; the Gronkle, Deadly Nadder, and Terrible Terror, and was now on the Night Fury chapter. She was so focused, she had no idea that someone had taken the seat next to her. At least, she didn't notice until the book was forcibly shut.

"Trust me, babe. There's something much better to look at. And he's sitting right next to you," Snotlout said, wrapping a beefy arm around her and nearly crushing the thin girl.

With a large gulp, Tori spoke in a well-calmed tone, "Th-that's nice, Snotlout, but I think I'll just finish my snack and head home to uh…study some more."

A curt clearing of the throat caught them both a bit by surprise, making them turn around. Stoick was looking down at the two of them, "And what exactly is going on here?"

"Uh…nothing, sir," Snotlout nervously replied, taking his arm off of Tori. The chief arched an eyebrow at him, but then shook his head, feeling that he didn't even want to know what was happening.

"Nevermind. I'm here because Hiccup told me that Tori came here. Have you seen her?"

Tori and surprisingly Snotlout's eyes widened, obviously taken aback by the question. They looked at each other from the corner of their eyes and then back at Stoick. Sheepishly, Tori raised up a hand and quietly replied, "Um…right here, chief."

It was Stoick's turn to be taken aback. He remembered Hiccup saying that she wouldn't even be recognized when he was done with her, but he didn't think it would happen that fast. Despite his son saying that Tori had made a good first start, he thought she would still be a bit more reserved. It was a true surprise that she was improving already.

"Tori! I didn't even recognize you without your hood on. Your father and I wanted to have a talk with you."

"Okay. I'm coming," Tori scooped the book up in her arms before saying, "Bye, Snotlout. See you tomorrow."

Giving the Jorgenson boy one last glance, Stoick turned and walked with the girl through the village. They walked in silence for about a moment until he asked, "So, I trust that your dragon training is going well?"

She merely shrugged and said, "About as well as it can be for me. I didn't do much today. I touched Toothless and Meatlug on the snout today. I think Hiccup's trying to get me comfortable around the dragons before we do any actual training."

He nodded, "Good. I'm glad that he's taking it easy with you. Especially after what you've been through."

Tori looked up at him, feeling completely horrified as she asked, "Does he-"

"Know? No. The only people who speak of _that_ are your parents and Gobber. And only to each other"

She let out a sigh of relief, clutching the Book of Dragons close to her chest. The two reached the Korrinston home in no time at all and her parents were, to say the least, surprised at her new transformation.

"Oh, Tori! I can't believe you've been hiding such a pretty face for so long!" Verna gushed, nearly choking poor Tori with a tight hug. "I'm so happy that your lesson went well today."

"Me too, mother," Tori gasped out. "And trust me, you're not the only one who thinks so."

Agmund quirked an eyebrow as Verna set her down, "Oh? And what do you mean by that?"

Stoick chuckled as he patted the young girl on the back, "According to Hiccup, Tori turned quite a few heads at the academy today. Astrid had to pry Snotlout and Tuffnut off of her."

Her father's eyes flashed dangerously, "What?"

"Tori, why don't you go upstairs and study. I think Blyn would like to read along with you, too," Verna said as she gripped her husband's arm comfortably.

Blyn, even at a young age of eleven, was the bolder and more outgoing little brother of Tori's. She knew he'd been crazy about joining the academy to train a dragon of his own once he was old enough. Due to that, she felt that it was only natural that her mother would assume he'd be more than eager to study with her.

She nodded, "Okay."

So, Tori rushed upstairs and down the narrow hallway where she stopped at the end and knocked on the door before opening it, "Blyn. Can I come in?"

The young boy was laid out flat on his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling while tossing a ball at the wall. It always bounced back onto his stomach before he threw it again. He was still awaiting his growth spurt and was currently stuck with his slight baby-fat face, sky blue eyes, and scruffy dark brown hair.

"I guess. What do you want?"

"Well…I just wanted to tell you that I started dragon training today. Hiccup gave me the Book of Dragons, so I was wondering-"

"Wait!" Blyn sat up abruptly, grunting as the ball he threw hit him on his helmet before turning to his sister. "_You _joined the Dragon Training Academy?"

_Not by choice_, she thought somewhat bitterly to herself, but nodded, "Yes. I was wondering if you'd like to study the book with me. I know you want to be a dragon trainer too, so-"

"Are you kidding? Yes!" Blyn grinned as he pulled his sister by her sleeve to his bed. He laid on his stomach, his chin resting in his hands as he awaited his sister to read from the book. She sat on the bed and flipped through the pages, stopping on a new dragon for them both to learn about.

_"The Scauldron. This __colossal Tidal Class dragon drinks water constantly, heating it up to dangerous temperatures in its cauldron-like stomach and uses it to spray its enemies with hot, and often fatal, torrents of water. To train a Scauldron, it is best to bring fish (or smell like one) or even cover yourself in sea water. Basically, do anything that reminds them of their home in the sea."_

* * *

><p>So, for the next few days, it was a bit of a familiar routine for Tori. Fish, train, chores, study, sleep, repeat. She actually had to admit that she was getting more and more comfortable with the dragons. Although, she had to admit that there were only a few that she truly trusted: Toothless, Meatlug, and Stormfly. She didn't really hold anything against Hookfang and Barf and Belch, but that couldn't be said about their riders.<p>

This went on like that for quite a few days and after about five days, Hiccup thought he would try something a little more advanced.

"Okay, Tori. You're really improving," he said as he brought out two fish from a basket. In order to distance herself from Tuffnut and Snotlout, Tori had decided that it would be best to stick near either Astrid or Toothless. In this case, she was sitting cross-legged on the ground, scratching Toothless behind his ear plates while he purred in content. "I thought that today we could turn it up a notch. You've gotten used to being around dragons and now comes the next step: bonding with dragons. Now the most basic form of bonding is feeding the dragons. Why don't you try feeding Toothless?"

He tossed the fish to her, which she did by their cold, dead tails. Tori reached into her pocket and pulled out a little jar, dabbing some sort of brown liquid with green specks over the fish. Hiccup raised an eyebrow as she put it away and said, "Okay, ready."

"Um…okay. What exactly was that stuff and why did you put it on the fish?"

"Oh, this is a little something I came up with a few weeks ago. Sometimes the dragons in town would try to steal fish from my wagon and then fight for it. I thought I could use some Dragon Nip on the fish to help calm them down. The brown stuff is a little marinade made from chicken fat, mutton juice, and a mix of some herbs to add flavor," she explained as she held a fish out to Toothless. He gave a few interested sniffs before taking the fish in his teeth and swallowing it whole. It wasn't until a few seconds after that his head fell to the ground, purring even louder in bliss. "Unfortunately, even though it kept them from fighting, it only made them want more fish."

"That's incredible!" Fishlegs gasped excitedly. "Hiccup, do you know how much that would decrease fighting among the dragons in town?"

"That's just what I was thinking, Fishlegs," he nodded. "And just think: these fish could help us tame and train some of the more dangerous dragons. Like Whispering Deaths or even Changewings. This is ingenious, Tori!"

Her cheeks tinted a bit red, but couldn't help but smile a little at the praise, "It's really nothing. I help my mom cook a lot, so that helped me do that."

"Well, I think it's a great idea. Good job, babe," Snotlout slid next to her, slipping his arm around her in a way that was very uncomfortable to Tori.

"Hookfang!" she called out, making the slumbering Monstrous Nightmare perk up immediately. His attention was especially drawn when she held up the other seasoned fish. "Salmon. It's all yours if you get Snotlout off of me."

Before Snotlout could get out the word "huh?", Hookfang had his trousers in his jaws before tossing him into the water trough. He turned around and stomped his feet lightly on the ground, eager to get his treat. Tori tossed the other fish into the air, where Hookfang snapped at it and swallowed it whole. He slumped onto the ground, peacefully rumbling at his full stomach.

Astrid smirked, "What do you know? Those fish have a dual purpose."

* * *

><p>It was pure black at midnight on the isle of Berk. The dragons were surprisingly deep and quiet in their sleep in town and the waves were gently throwing themselves at the wooden docks down below. A dark shadow stealthily moved across the docks. This was the shadow of a person, who appeared to be carrying a large box over to one of the ships. It looked around, seeing if anyone had followed. When it was satisfied, it jumped onto the ship and set the box next to the mast before fleeing into the night.<p>

* * *

><p>Tori yawned and stretched her arms as she lazily walked down to the docks. Getting an earlier start was often hard, but she had gotten quite used to the routine by now. After gathering the necessary equipment; worms, some fish for snacking, nets, and a pole, she felt she was ready to go. She jumped onto her small ship and yelped as she tripped and ran right into the mast. As she rubbed her head and winced in pain, she was startled to hear very faint squeaking and scratching noises.<p>

She looked down and saw that there was a box just sitting there. There was no recollection of bringing or forgetting a box, so she assumed that she didn't put it there. She jumped back when the box shook a little, giving out the same squeaks and scratches. Tori gulped and slightly lifted the lid, peeking inside only to be thrown back as a little violet shot out of the box and at her chest.

After shaking her head to clear the haze of the attack, Tori's eyes widened in slight fear. A Terrible Terror sniffed at her, catching the scent of fish in the air and eagerly searching for it. He was dark purple in color, with black horns and highlights along his spine and tail. He had a pure white belly and little black, razor sharp claws.

"AHH!" she screamed, pushing herself back and knocking the Terrible Terror off her. He squeaked out in protest, picking himself up and shaking off the fall before looking back at her with large yellow eyes.

"G-go on, now. Shoo," Tori waved her hands lightly at the Terrible Terror. He let out a small roar as he stumbled back a bit, but did not go away. Instead, he came a bit closer and gave out little chirps of interest.

He stood up on his hind legs and growled out loudly, making the same shooing motion with his front paws. He squeaked out loudly as he fell onto his back, squirming a bit as he got back onto his feet. He shook himself off much like a wet dog before looking back up at her. He flew up and perched himself on her shoulder, letting out a series of musical clicks and chirps as he rubbed himself against her.

Tori shuddered a bit, but willed herself to remain calm. Perhaps this was a test set up by Hiccup to test her skills with her training. So, she took in a shaky breath before holding her hand out towards the dragon. The Terror stopped his song as he looked at it, but instead of pressing his snout against it, he lifted it and let it run along his back as he growled out in content.

"I guess…I guess you're gonna stick around from now on, huh?" she asked him as she plucked him off of her shoulder. He squirmed a little, flailing his limbs as he gleefully squeaked and growled. "I…suppose I should give you a name then."

The Terrible Terror merely chirped, using his paws to 'shoo' at her, making her actually crack a smile at how adorable it was, "How about Shoo?"

He blinked and cocked his head while his forked tongue drooped out before shooting right back out. He squirmed out of her grip as he climbed back onto his trainer's shoulder and resumed his song. Tori shrugged, figuring that he liked his new name.

* * *

><p><strong>OHHH! So many questions! What did happen to Tori? Is that why she's so afraid of the dragons? Who left that box on Tori's boat? Will she and Shoo stay good friends? And will Hookfang ever get tired of throwing Snotlout into the water trough?<strong>

**…Okay, that last question is kind of obvious. But stay tuned to find out the answer to the other four questions. Have a nice day!**


	3. Lesson 3: To Train a Dragon

**Yay! Chapter three! Well, I told you guys that this story would start moving a bit faster, and I was only half right. The next few chapters will be a bit fast, but then it will start to calm down. **

**AnonymousZGirl- First, sorry I didn't reply to you in the last chapter. But thank you for commenting on Shoo. And I do know that about baby dragons. I have to say that the sequel was my favorite movie of this entire year, even though I burst into tears near the end. Honestly, I didn't cry that much when Mufasa died in the Lion King. **

**Anyway, I do not own HTTYD. I only own Tori, Blyn, Shoo, and their parents. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Hiccup paced back and forth, occasionally glancing at the entrance of the academy entrance. This was the first time ever that Tori had been late and it was entirely unlike her. In fact, she was often the first one at the academy since she started her training. The fact that she was this late actually started to worry him.

"Maybe her dad pulled her out of dragon training," Ruffnut said.

"But why? We haven't done anything to hurt her," Hiccup shook his head. "I think Toothless and I should go and look for her-"

"We're here! We're late, but we're here!" Tori slid down the entrance and stopped in front of the dragon trainers. "Sorry. I guess the time just got away from us…"

"'We'? 'Us'?" Astrid asked, setting her hands on her waist. "I thought you always went fishing by yourself. Who was with you?"

Shoo's head suddenly poked out of Tori's hood, where he had been peacefully sleeping until he noticed they had stopped. He crawled out and wrapped himself around her shoulders, rubbing his head affectionately against hers. What had definitely astounded the dragon trainers was that when he did so, Tori didn't flinch or shy away at all. In fact, Tori actually smiled when the little Terror started chirping out a song for her.

"Wow, Tori. I'm impressed. I wasn't going to have you try to bond with a Terror for another few days. Where'd you find this little guy?" Hiccup asked, rubbing the Terrible Terror's head.

Tori frowned a bit and tilted her head as she said, "He was in a box on my boat this morning. You didn't put him there?"

He shook his head, "I know I didn't. Guys?"

"I didn't," Astrid shrugged. Fishlegs and Snotlout shook their heads, but then suddenly, Shoo started growling and hissing menacingly. He shot off of Tori's shoulder and right at Tuffnut's face, making him yell out wordlessly as the little Terror scratched and screeched at his face. Hiccup blinked and gestured,

"And now we have the answer."

Tori rolled her eyes, "Why didn't I think of that in the first place? Shoo! Get back here!"

The violet Terror turned back to her, scrambling off of Tuffnut and over to Tori and jumping into her arms. He let out a little yawn before snuggling into her chest and purring in content. Tuffnut groaned as he sat up, "See? I knew you'd like him!"

Tori blinked blandly at him before leaning over and whispering something into Ruffnut's ear. She at first looked confused, but then a large grin grew on her face. The second Tori stepped away, Ruffnut kicked her brother in the shin, knocking him down to the ground after he had just gotten back up.

"I know you told her to do that. And I just want to say that I felt all your love in that kick," Tuffnut wheezed out, trying to mask his pain. Tori frowned deeply, holding Shoo ever more closely to her chest,

"Well, as much finding Shoo nearly gave me a heart attack, I have to admit that I've grown attached to the little guy since this morning. So, thank you, Tuffnut. That was very thoughtful of you."

"Shoo?" Fishlegs asked, clearly not following on the name. Tori smiled and held the Terrible Terror out, and he flicked his paws gleefully at the dragon trainers.

"Shoo's actually…a very fitting name for this little guy," Hiccup commented. "Well, since you have your own dragon now, we can actually start on some more advanced exercises. How about we start with…hand signals. That's always a good place to start."

* * *

><p>Dinnertime at the Korrinston home was entirely…awkward to say the least. Blyn was ecstatic that his sister had brought home a dragon, especially since Shoo was going to be sticking around for a long time. Verna was happy that her daughter was able to look past her fear and make a new friend out of a dragon. As with Agmund, well, it took a good bit of time to convince him to allow Shoo to stay. However, it ended in he giving Shoo a chance to see how much his daughter would improve.<p>

"Tori, I'm happy that you've made a new friend, but-" Verna began, and then Agmund took over,

"Does he really have to eat right at the table?"

The girl turned her eyes to Shoo, who had three fish in a bowl as he sat on the table. She turned back to her father and said, "I can't help it. Every time I put his bowl on the floor, he just brings it back up."

"I like Shoo. He's so cool," Blyn grinned, reaching out and scratching him behind the horns. Shoo responded by squeaking and humming in bliss before taking a fish and swallowing it whole.

Sighing deeply, Agmund pushed his chair out as he stood and walked to the fireplace, "While we're on the subject of dragons, Tori, I have somethin' fer ye."

Tori sat up a little straighter as her father turned back around, holding a shield out for her. She took it and smiled widely, running her hands along the metal rim that had yet to get any dents. She especially loved the red mountain ram insignia with the black background. Even Blyn and Shoo gathered around to admire it.

"It's te, ye know, keep ye safe durin' yer training."

"I…I don't know what to say," she said, feeling the wooden surface. "Thank you, dad."

Agmund smiled, messing her hair up a bit, "Well, one good thing is comin' out of this. Ye really do look more beautiful with yer hair outta yer face."

* * *

><p>"Okay, everyone. Today, we will continue to work on our hand signals," Hiccup told the other dragon riders. "Tori, why don't you go first? How many signals have you taught Shoo?"<p>

"Um…four. I taught him four hand signals," Tori replied. "They're just very basic commands. Nothing that impressive…"

Hiccup insisted, "Well, let's have a look at them, anyway."

"Oh, okay," Tori gulped, feeling nervous as she walked over and set Shoo down on top of a barrel. As she took the center of attention she turned back to the trainers and said, "For this first command, I'll need a volunteer. Someone who's fast and brave."

"ME!" Snotlout and Tuffnut shot their hands up instantly. Before they could break into a fight, Tori instantly pointed at Snotlout. The Jorgenson boy cried out in triumph, "That's right! It's me she picked! Snotlout, Snotlout! Oy, oy, oy!"

He shook in anticipation as he went right up to Tori, "What'cha want me to do, babe?"

She merely pointed at an axe that was sitting on a barrel on the other side of the arena, "I want you to get that axe and bring it back to me as fast as you can when I say so."

Snotlout nodded eagerly, practically shooting off as soon as Tori said "Go!" When he was halfway across the arena, Tori snapped her fingers which caught Shoo's attention. The Terror watched as she put her arm across her chest, clenching her fist before pointing over to the axe. He growled before taking flight over their heads, landing down with a thud on the other barrel and on top of the axe. Snotlout skidded to a stop as Shoo began to hiss at him, his eyes narrowed and his body lurched back and ready to pounce.

"Aw, come on!" He stomped his foot in agitation. "You wanna piece of me, pal? Huh?"

Shoo instantly shot a fireball at Snotlout, making him jump back. Hiccup nudged Tori as Snotlout continued to try and get the axe, "Um…what kind of command is this, anyway?"

Tori made the same gesture and whispered, "Defend."

"Ah," he nodded. "Well, as fun as it is to watch this, how about we start on the next command?"

With a nod, Tori whistled for the Terrible Terror, who was at attention immediately. Tori held a hand over her eyes, much like a salute, and then pointed at the entrance to the academy. Immediately, Shoo shot off of the barrel, and landed onto the metallic netting up above and seemed to be observing the entrance. When he appeared to be satisfied, he let out a merry tune.

To explain, Tori repeated the pose and said, "Lookout. So far, he makes that sound when it's safe to go on."

"I like that. And it actually will be useful for you for tomorrow's exercise," Astrid said as Shoo came down and perched on Tori's head.

The raven-haired girl frowned a bit, "Wh-what exercise?"

When Astrid opened her mouth, ready to speak, Snotlout interrupted as he panted. He held the axe out to Tori and said, "Here's your axe."

Smiling a bit anxiously, Tori gratefully accepted the axe. In all honesty, it was her father's that she had borrowed for the exercise. So, of course she had to accept it from him.

"Tomorrow's exercise. We'll be spelunking in the tunnels of the Whispering Deaths at the Cavernous Cove," Astrid explained, gesturing to the map of the isle not all that far from Dragon Island.

Everyone, excluding Hiccup and Tori, groaned and complained loudly. Astrid scowled as Hiccup said, "C'mon guys. This is actually an important exercise. We need to practice encountering dangerous situations in the caves underneath Berk. The Cavernous Cove is the best place to do that."

Ruffnut raised a hand as she asked, "So, does that mean you're gonna be needing a new apprentice? Cuz Tori's _not _going to survive that."

Tori shrunk down a bit in fright, yet her fear seemed to spike when she felt a thick arm crush her in a strong grip. Snotlout smirked as he said, "Don't worry, babe. I'll protect you."

"Uh, correction!" Tuffnut pushed him away and pulled Tori to him. "I'm gonna protect Tori."

Just as a brawl was about to unfold with Tori caught in the middle, Astrid cut in and said, "I'm actually glad you guys asked. Unfortunately, Tori won't be joining us."

"WHAT?! WHY NOT?!" the two males exclaimed.

"Sorry, guys, but with Shoo as Tori's only dragon, she really isn't ready to take on something like this," Hiccup explained to them. "That said, Astrid actually has an alternate exercise for Tori."

He waved for Astrid to continue, but only did so when she roughly shoved away Snotlout and Tuffnut. She handed Tori a small book and the Book of Dragons before showing her a map,

"Okay, I made this exercise so that its simple _and _challenging. All I want you to do is take Shoo and hike from Berk all the way to the north entrance of the Lost Cavern and hike back. While you do that, you're going to write and draw down what wild dragons you encounter and how you deal with them. Got it?"

"I-I think so…" Tori looked over the map, mentally plotting out a course. Shoo climbed onto the table and sniffed at the map. "But, what if I run into a really dangerous dragon? What if what I learned doesn't work on it?"

Astrid patted her on the back, roughly but reassuringly, "Don't worry. If you get into any trouble, just have Shoo shoot a fireball into the sky and your sentry, which will be one of us, will come and give you help. But _only_ as a last resort."

"I'll do it! I'll be the sentry!" Tuffnut cried out and waving his arm, pushing Snotlout to the side before he could volunteer. However, the Jorgenson boy was just as determined and just as stubborn.

"No way! Tori needs a sentry with a keen eye, sharp mind, and true warrior strength to keep her safe!"

The two winced in pain as the blonde shield maiden twisted their arms, "All of which you both don't have."

She slammed them down on the ground, dusting her hands off as Hiccup told them, "Tori gets to choose which one of us is the sentry. Besides, it's not like you're going to be walking next to her anyhow. All you're going to do is patrol around the forest in case Shoo fires a blast into the sky."

"So, whose it gonna be, Tori?"

"Oh, um…well, they both are pretty eager, but I guess we can leave it all up to a coin toss…"

"A…what toss?" Tuffnut asked dumbly. However, the rest of the group was looking at her strangely as well. Tori reached into her pocket and brought out an ancient, metallic coin.

"My father found this in the forest when he was younger and told me this was how he and his brothers divided the chores. All they did was flip this coin and called a side: either heads or tails. Whichever side faced up when it landed won."

"How's that going to decide anything?" Ruffnut asked, feeling just about as lost as everyone else.

Tori blinked and explained, "It's a game of chance, so nobody can cheat. It's a fair way to decide. Snoutlout and Tuffnut can both choose a side and whichever one comes out on top wins."

"That's actually not a bad idea, Tori," Hiccup nodded. "Let's do it."

"Oh! I want heads!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"Hey, no fair! I wanted heads!" Tuffnut complained, scowling as he got in Snotlout's face.

Hiccup sighed and turned to the dragon trainee, "What's the verdict, Tori?"

"Um…sorry, Tuffnut. You have to call it first. Snotlout gets heads and you get tails."

The male twin huffed and crossed his arms as Snotlout grinned in triumph. Tori tossed it up in the air and the other watched it spin a bit as it went up and then fell back down. Tori caught the coin and slapped it down on the back of her hand. She lifted her hand and said aloud, "Heads. Snotlout wins."

"YES!" Snotlout whooped, throwing his fists up in the air. He wrapped an arm around Tori once again and said, "You've got nothin' to worry about, Tori. If you get afraid, just shoot me a fireball and I'll be there to protect you."

Pleadingly, Tori turned over to Astrid and mouthed 'help me' to her. The blonde Viking shrugged, figuring that since Tori's been through enough with having to face dragons, she should at least not have to deal with Snotlout of all people. So, she twisted Snotlout's free arm, allowing his grip on Tori to loosen so she could escape. When she was able to, Astrid released Snotlout.

"Great, so everyone get their rest and we'll be good for tomorrow," Hiccup told them.

* * *

><p>So, early the next morning, Tori and Shoo were on their way towards the Lost Cavern. Since she wanted to try and get through the exercise as quickly as possible, she figured it was just best to do it immediately. In her pack, she had packed everything that Hiccup had recommended for her: Dragon Nip, a shiny object, a map, a compass, and, of course, the Book of Dragons. She also packed away a few fish, a snack, a canteen, and her shield.<p>

By mid-morning, she was already halfway to the Lost Cavern and had caught no sign of any dragons. That was about to change very quickly.

"Okay. Raven Point is just over there, so we are actually halfway to the Lost Cavern," Tori muttered, setting the map under her arm. Shoo sat comfortably atop of her head, resting and squeaking as he just enjoyed the breeze with his wings spread out wide.

When there was a rustling in the bushes, Tori stopped and stepped back, making her Terrible Terror jerk and squeak indignantly. When he caught the sound of the rustling bushes, however, he instantly perked. The second Tori had gripped her shield, a dark blue and orange Nadder jumped out of the bushes, squawking as he flung his tail spines at the two.

Tori gasped as she brought up her shield, catching three of the spines while the others missed their mark entirely. Shoo hissed menacingly before preparing a fireball, which was stopped instantly by his trainer's command, "No, Shoo! Let's try to get on his good side."

Tossing the shield to the side, Tori slowly moved towards the dragon, trying her best not to cringe when the dragon hissed and raised his tail. She hushed him gently, moving to his side and running a hand along his scaly side. He kept his glare on her at all time, but couldn't help but purr at her gentle touches. Tori hesitated when she had gotten to his tail, but went ahead and stroked it, smoothing down the spines. The second her hand moved away from him, the Nadder turned around and looked at her appreciatively, yet his contented growling increased when she pulled out a marinated fish.

"Here ya go, boy. Eat the fish," she tossed up the fish, which he caught and swallowed heartily. It wasn't seconds later when he slumped down to the ground, his eyes closed and his tongue hanging out as he hissed in bliss. While the Nadder was at peace, Tori was sure to distance herself a bit before bringing out her journal and noting her dragon training accomplishment.

"I really don't want to face a nasty surprise like that again," Tori said to herself as she brought Shoo down to her shoulder. She gave him the 'Lookout' signal and he complied with a joyful squeak, taking off in the air to survey the path ahead. Tori leaned against a tree, patiently awaiting the return of her dragon when something dawned on her, "Oh no! My shield!"

She couldn't bear to leave behind one of her two only defenses while out in the wilderness, that one being a gift from her father, and the other not there to aid her if she needed it. So, after locating it near the still-dazed Nadder, she pulled the spines out and tossed them to the side. The moment she had her shield strapped to her back, the Deadly Nadder was up and active yet again. From the sounds that he made, he didn't see Tori as a foe or food, but that didn't really make things better when he decided to playfully, yet very roughly, nudge her on the back. Tori yelped at the sudden push and before she could stop herself, she fell and rolled down the hill. She cried out in pain all the way down, screaming a bit when she flew off of a ledge and landed on something hard and warm.

Tori groaned, pushing herself up and rubbing her head to ease the pain. At first, the only concern she had was getting herself back on the path before she could run into any dangerous dragons. Unfortunately, that ship had sailed the moment she landed from her fall. It wasn't until she heard an agitated growl that she noticed just what she landed on. Something hard, warm, and _moving_. _Breathing_, even. What she thought would have been a rock or even just a rough patch of meadow was actually a mass of dragon scales and muscle.

The raven-haired girl yelped when the dragon moved and made her fall off, landing flat on her back. After blinking the dizziness out of her violet eyes, they widened at the mere size of the dragon in front of her. The beast's large form came to its full height, being even taller than any of the dragons she had seen back in the village.

She was silver in color, with her belly being pure white and the rest of her body; her spine, her crown, and even her tail fins, being a dark and light gray. She had icy blue eyes, though her pupils were quite thin as they narrowed at the girl, her owl-like face suspicious and irritated as her nap was disturbed. What really caught her attention, however, was her not two, but _four _wings.

Frantically, Tori brought out the Book of Dragons and looked for any existing dragon that would have four wings. The dragon, still keeping an eye on her, blinked and growled out loudly in warning. Finally, Tori came across a page in the book with the very description of the dragon.

_Stormcutter. This Sharp Class Dragon is one of the larger species of this class. They are perhaps the most formidable hunters of the dragon world. They hardly ever miss their targeted prey. Approach with extreme caution. _

"Good to know," Tori whispered bitterly, gasping silently when the Stormcutter's head jerked right at her, knocking the book out of her hands and over a few feet away.


	4. Lesson 4: To Tame a Stormcutter

**Woohoo! Chapter four! I am loving how this story is going so far and I hope you guys do too. Btw, these disclaimers are more like author's notes and I usually just do it out of respect for copyrighting and to express my gratitude to the people who leave kind reviews for my stories. So, if you want to read these, go right ahead. If not, you won't offend me. Any important announcements I need to make will be made briefly at the end of the chapter at the bottom of the page. **

**Dragon of Ying and Yang- I will do that. Thank you.**

**Guest- Okay, I don't know if the two reviews are from the same person, so I'll just answer them both right here. We will find out in this chapter if Tori tames the Stormcutter and yes, I will be making a sequel. I don't know when, but it will happen. **

**I do not own HTTYD. I only own Tori, the Korrinston family, and Shoo. Thank you!**

Tori backed away, never taking her eyes off of the Stormcutter as she approached her with a good amount of intimidation and suspicion. She let out a series of growls and hisses as her narrowed eyes never strayed from the Viking. The Viking girl yelped as she tripped over a thick tree root, which earned a menacing hiss from the dragoness. She scooted back until she was stopped by a stone wall behind her. She was cornered.

The Stormcutter reared up, spreading all four of her wings as she let out a loud, rumbling growl while at the same time blocking off all, if any, possible escape. Despite the knowledge that she would face certain death as this dragon's prey, Tori had to admit that the Stormcutter was quite a magnificent dragon.

"Wow. You're a beautiful dragon, aren't you?"

She flinched away when the dragon hissed at her, but immediately stopped when the dragoness registered the compliment. Her pupils grew to full size as did her pride.

Tori peeked an eye open and noticed that the Stormcutter's face had softened a bit. She knew that Sharp Class dragons had a limitless supply of vanity, but she only assumed that appealing to it only work on Nadders. Well, there was only one way to find out.

"I mean…your scales are just so lovely! So white and pure, just like fresh snow," she nervously smiled as she slowly stood back up. The dragon hummed loudly, moving back a bit to allow Tori some room as well as leaning down to her eye level. This told her that the Stormcutter was either saying she was pleased or that she wanted Tori to keep the compliments coming. Or both.

"And your eyes. I've never seen such eyes before! You're possibly the most beautiful dragon I've ever seen and I've seen my fair share of dragons."

The Stormcutter couldn't help but purr and preen herself. She liked this little Viking! She knew what she was talking about!

"Well, I'd love to stay and talk more about how lovely you are, but I really must be on my way," Tori scooped up the Book of Dragons and began to walk away, and was relieved to see that she let her do so. She sighed and shook her head, picking up her pace a bit to make up for lost time.

Meanwhile, the Stormcutter perked as she noticed the absence of her new Viking friend. Her head swiveled to look to the left, right, and behind. The four-winged dragon quickly caught sight of where her new friend had gone to.

"Okay, _Stormcutter. White and gray coloring_," Tori wrote down in the little book. "_Avoided attack by appealing to its vanity."_

Closing the book, she sighed and folded her hands behind her back while admiring the scenery. Astrid was right. This was a very simple exercise, but it still challenged some of her dragon knowledge. Her grin broadened as she thought of how impressed they would all be when she showed them how she encountered such a beautiful and rare dragon.

_Grrr…._

She stopped abruptly, fearing that the sound was from a dangerous dragon lurking in the shadows. The same growl came again, and she laughed lightly at herself. The sound was nothing more than the rumbling from her own stomach.

Tori reached into her bag and brought out an apple, a smoked and seasoned halibut, and the canteen. She managed to get through the apple and half of the canteen when she felt a cloud of warm air blow at her from behind. The girl froze, her violet eyes wide as she slowly turned around. The Stormcutter, with her blue eyes bright and a smile on her face, had finally caught up. Her wide pupils went down to the halibut, and then went back up to Tori's face as she licked her maw. She nodded, receiving and understanding the message perfectly clear.

"I've…made this countless times for the dragons back in the village, so I hope you like it as much as they do," Tori grunted as she chucked the fish into the air. The Stormcutter lurched back and snapped her jaws, swallowing the fish in one large gulp. The dragon curled up and her head landed heavily on Tori, making her yelp and fall down as the creature purred loudly in satisfaction.

Tori, however, was not as relaxed and blissful as the dragon was. She knew that the dragon wouldn't hurt her, and that made her wonder why she still felt so stiff and scared. It may have been because she had never gotten so close to a dragon before…other than Shoo, but Shoo was different. Shoo was a dragon she could trust and he wasn't so _heavy_!

"Um…I'm glad you enjoyed that, but I'm sorry. I need to get going," she tried pushing herself out from under the dragon's head, but it was just too heavy. The dragon's eyes were closed and her breathing was now deep and slow. She was asleep and as long as she was, Tori was going nowhere.

With a heavy groan, Tori let herself fall back onto the ground in defeat. It looked like she would have to wait until the Stormcutter woke up or for someone to come by and help her.

"That's it!" Tori suddenly grinned before letting out a sharp whistle. Shoo dove down from the trees and landed before her. When he caught sight of the much larger dragon, he hissed and his mouth lit up as he prepared an attack. He stopped immediately when Tori frantically waved her hands and shook her head.

"No! Whatever you do, do not attack her!" When Shoo sat down, she whispered aloud, "We need to get Snotlout down here so that he can help me lift her head. Shoot!"

The Terrible Terror jerked his head upward, firing a powerful blast of fire high up into the air. It was only seconds later that the Jorgenson boy and his Monstrous Nightmare landed mere yards away. Well, Tori thought, at least he's focused on his sentry duty.

"You called, babe?" he asked with a confident smirk on his face.

Tori's eyebrows knitted together, looking at her current situation before looking back at Snotlout and gestured, "Do I really need to explain?"

"Say no more. I got this," Hookfang reared up before Snotlout exclaimed, "Hookfang! FIRE!"

As she saw the light of the fire ignite within Hookfang's gaping jaws, Tori muttered to herself, "Apparently I do need to explain. NO FIRE! NO FIRE!"

The Stoker Class dragon stopped, shutting his mouth and cocking his head, "I don't need you to attack the dragon. I need you to help me to _gently _lift her head so that she won't crush me."

Snotlout groaned a bit in disappointment, slumping off of Hookfang, "Fine. If you really want to do it _that_ way."

"Okay, just get your hands right under her chin and I'll just…" Tori grunted as she pushed with all her strength while Snotlout actually struggled himself to lift the dragon's head off of her. When they had managed to lift the Stormcutter's head a little, Tori scooted out and rolled back onto her feet. She threw her arms up and cheered, "Freedom!"

Despite the sweet feeling of freedom, Tori couldn't help but be drawn to the Stormcutter's four wings, especially the razor-sharp pincers. She walked along the length of the wing, feeling along the membrane before resting it along the pincer, "Wow. I never thought that there was a dragon with four wings. This is pretty cool, huh Snotlout?"

The Jorgenson collapsed, landing right on the dragon's face which had surprisingly done nothing to wake her up. He brought up a clenched fist and threw it down on the slumbering dragoness, "Stupid heavy dragon…"

Unfortunately, that hit was none too light and it was just enough to make the Stormcutter's eyes open widely. Tori snapped around, completely oblivious to her hood getting hooked onto the pincers. She gasped and nearly intervened when the female Stormcutter shot up, her wings spread out wide as she roared at the Jorgenson boy.

"WHOA!" Tori yelped as she was jerked up before clinging onto the top wing. The Stormcutter lurched her head back before letting out a stream of fire, swirling towards Snotlout like a scorching tornado.

"AHHH!" Snotlout shouted as he was pushed back by the force of the blast. He scrambled back onto Hookfang's back before commanding his dragon to fire as well, making the dragoness jump back, flapping her four wings and sending the fire back at him. Tori screamed as she was thrown off of the wing and landed right on the Stormcutter's lower back. Hookfang screeched before taking off to get away from his own attack.

The silver and white dragon narrowed her eyes and took off, ignoring the protests of the small Viking that clung tightly onto her back.

* * *

><p>"See? I told you guys it wouldn't be so bad," Astrid said as she and Stormfly landed back in Berk. Meanwhile, the other four dragons and their riders landed, all looking completely drained and exhausted.<p>

"The sad thing is that she's not wrong," Fishlegs panted as Meatulg slumped down on the ground. "I bet Snotlout had an easier time keeping an eye on Tori."

"Uh, speaking of which, isn't that her family over there?" Astrid pointed towards the edge of the village, where the entrance of the forest was. And indeed, Blyn was sitting next to Verna as Agmund kept facing the forest entrance.

"I think you're right, Astrid," Hiccup nudged Toothless to fly over to them. The other riders followed behind at their own pace, but the second Hiccup got there, he asked, "Afternoon, Agmund. What're you guys doing here?"

Not taking his eyes off of the entrance, Agmund responded, "Waitin' fer me daughter, that's what, son."

"We don't understand. She left right at dawn," Verna explained. "She should've been back by now."

"Well, maybe she's taking her time coming back. Maybe she's getting along better with the dragons and is making some new friends," Fishlegs said, actually hoping he was right, but couldn't help the uneasiness he felt when he said it.

"Or perhaps those _friends_ of hers decided to make a small snack outta her."

Despite their exhaustion, the children couldn't help but glare at Mildew as he entered the scene. Of all the times he's tried making the dragons look bad, he almost always uses Tori as an example of their "troublesome" behavior.

"I mean, after all the poor girl's been through, why're you all forcin' her te get along with the beasts?"

The riders looked at each other, the same question on their mind: What in Odin's name was Mildew talking about?

Blyn looked off into the forest worriedly as Hiccup said, "Dragons aren't like that, Mildew. And unlike you, _I_ have faith in Tori. I'm sure she's doing just fine."

Everyone was taken aback at the distant sound of a roaring dragon coming from the forest. By the sound of that roar, there was a dragon that was _not _happy. Mildew gave the boy a sinister smirk as he said, "You were sayin'?"

"That…that probably has nothing to do with Tori," Hiccup bit his lip as he continued, "but if it makes you all feel better, Toothless and I will go and check up on her."

Toothless churred a bit as he took off into the sky, flapping his wings mercilessly and occasionally scanning over the forest floor. He had a fondness for the Viking girl and was just as concerned about her well-being as anyone else. Hiccup was sure to fly along the path that was likely for Tori to take for the trip back, but so far, he couldn't spot a trace of her.

"Wait. Snotlout? Snotlout!" he shouted as he spotted the Monstrous Nightmare flying frantically in their direction. When he was ignored, Hiccup shouted for him, "What's going on? Where are you going?!"

"Anywhere that isn't with _that _thing!" Snotlout bellowed, pointing back past Hiccup. When he and Toothless turned around, the Night Fury screeched and Hiccup cried out as they dove down to avoid the mass of silver and white scales and wings.

"Hey, isn't that-" Hiccup squinted to get a better look at the strange lump that was on the Stormcutter's back. His eyes widened as he told Toothless, "Bud, we need to get in closer!"

Toothless garbled before shooting off after them, twisting and turning to keep in the dragon's blind spot. When he was able to get close enough, Hiccup shouted at the top of his lungs,

"TORI!"

Violet eyes snapped open, only she wished she hadn't. She had to have been many yards up in the air, clinging onto the back of the angry Stormcutter as she chased after Snotlout and Hookfang. Hiccup and Toothless easily kept by their side and was the owner of the voice.

"Tori, you need to calm that dragon down!"

"I-I can't do it, Hiccup! I'm not good with them like you are!"

"I would gladly accept the flattery, but now's not the time! I know you can do this, Tori! This is what I've been training you for!"

In a way, Hiccup was right and Tori knew it, but she wasn't sure she was ready to tame a completely wild dragon. Even so, if she didn't at least _try_ something, Snotlout and Hookfang were going to get fried. So, with a heavy gulp, she nodded and shouted back, "Okay. I'll try."

So, Tori managed to grip onto the dark gray spines and use them to climb up her back. She almost didn't like admitting it, but the blowing wind and the bitter cold actually made her feel alive. When she got to the end of the spines, she sat herself down on the Stormcutter's neck as she let loose another burst of fire.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay, Winter. Calm down," Tori cooed, stroking the Stormcutter's crest as she prepared another blast of fire. It immediately ceased as did her flying, landing on a steep cliff before her head twisted around to the girl. Her deep blue eyes and dilated pupils were focused on her with a strong amount of curiosity and calm.

"That's it. That's my good girl," Tori smiled as she reached her hand out, her palm facing Winter's snout. The dragon closed her eyes and pressed it against her hand, growling in content. She gasped, only this time, it wasn't out of fear or apprehension. It was something entirely…different.

Winter's eyes opened up, boring into Tori's as if she were looking straight into her soul and vice versa. When her hand and Winter's snout connected, it seemed that the bond that the two formed was sealed forevermore. Tori felt it very strongly, and she somehow knew that the Stormcutter felt it too.

"Nice dragon taming there, Tori," Hiccup applauded as he and Toothless stopped with them. Toothless garbled a bit in worry when she didn't respond, or even acknowledge them.

"Don't worry about Tori, bud," Hiccup smiled a bit when Tori used her other hand to stroke the side of Winter's face while the dragoness purred loudly. "They're just getting acquainted, that's all."

* * *

><p>"This was a terrible idea from the start, Agmund," Mildew told the pacing Viking. His gaze occasionally went to the forest opening hoping that his daughter would be in sight. So far, there was no such luck. "Leave to a boy and his dragon to put your dear, beloved daughter in harm's way."<p>

"Mildew, that's enough!" Stoick snapped at him. He spoke more softly as he said, "You have nothing to worry about, Agmund. Tori has Hiccup and Snotlout to keep her safe."

At the loud shrieking of a Monstrous Nightmare, everyone looked up to see Hookfang diving down and landing in front of them very ungracefully. Both he and Snotlout were panting shakily and heavily, as if they had just gotten out of a battle with twenty Outcast ships. They were covered in soot and were smoking from freshly lit flames.

"What in the name of Thor happened te you two?" Gobber asked unbelievably.

"Looks like Hookfang lit up on Snotlout again," Fishlegs commented.

"Shut up, Fishlegs!" Snotlout finally gave out a hostile reaction. He jumped off of Hookfang and snapped, "If you really must know, Tori's stupid dragon attacked me!"

Astrid arched her eyebrows, "Shoo did _that_ to you?"

"Oh no. It wasn't that little Terror. Tori just had to go and make friends with a _new_ dragon! A _huge _dragon that's fast and breathes fire like a _tornado_!"

Fishlegs's face contorted into thought as he asked, "Fire like a tornado? Did this dragon have four wings?"

"How the heck should I know?!" Snotlout snapped out in reply, only to be silenced by Stoick as he lifted a hand.

"What're you talkin' about, Fishlegs?"

Fishlegs explained to them, "Well, the only dragon that I've read about that breathes fire like a tornado is the Stormcutter dragon. It's a large Sharp Class Dragon with four wings. The book says that not only are they very intelligent, but they are also the best hunters in the dragon world. They never stop until they catch their prey."

"Well, it obviously isn't the best because it didn't catch me!" The Jorgenson boy cockily boasted, making the others, riders and leaders alike, roll their eyes.

"Maybe it realized you weren't worth its time," Astrid commented.

Snotlout shouted as he was thwacked from behind by a gray-finned tail. Winter hissed at him, quieting down only when Tori soothingly patted her head, making her turn her head the whole way around as the Viking said, "It's okay, girl. Snotlout can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but he means well."

Hiccup and Toothless landed close by and said, "What did we tell ya? Tori was just making a new friend."

"Would'ja look at the size of that thing?" Gobber gaped at the large dragon. Sure, the Red Death was a far larger dragon, but as far as anyone was concerned, this one was by far the largest dragon to be trained. And by Tori. _Tori Korrinston, _shyest Viking in the entire village managed to tame and bond with a Stormcutter. It was almost too much even for him!

"Awesome!" Blyn rushed from his mother's side and stopped in front of the dragon. Winter turned back and lowered her gaze towards the younger Korrinston as he said, "You're, like, the coolest dragon ever!"

Winter held her head up high, gladly taking in the oohs and awes of the surrounding people. Well, all but Snotlout and Hookfang, whom she was eager to put into place should either of them get out of line again.

"This is so strange. We've been all over this island and not once have we seen a trace of a Stormcutter living here," Fishlegs said. "I wonder where this one came from."

Tori nervously cleared her throat and said, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my new friend, Winter. Winter, these are my friends and family."

The Stormcutter rumbled loudly, rattling her crown and her fins as if sending a message. Immediately, the other dragons gathered around, curiously sniffing and giving out their own sounds of approval. However, Stormfly appeared to have been glaring at Winter, and she glared back. They came closer and sniffed each other, then growled a bit before stepping away, keeping a reasonable distance away from each other.

"By Odin..." Agmund muttered, turning his gaze onto his daughter as she slid down Winter's wing and onto the ground. "How…how did ye manage te-"

"Tame her?" at their nods, Tori merely shrugged. "I honestly didn't do much. All I did was give her some complements and then I gave her my halibut. I guess other than that, I just appealed to her better nature."

Stoick chuckled when Winter rolled onto her back and shoved her head at Tori, obviously trying to get her attention, "You've done a good job of it, too. Well done, Tori."

"Well, considering you've managed to bond with a rideable dragon, I guess all that needs to be done is to get a saddle made," Hiccup told her. Winter rolled back onto her stomach and looked at him before turning back to Tori with a curious churr.

* * *

><p>"Quit yer squirmin', ye stubborn beast!" Gobber grunted as Winter growled irritably, shaking and turning to avoid the slab of brown leather. Sure, he had agreed to help Hiccup make a saddle for a dragon as large as this Stormcutter, but he was actually hoping that she would be as docile as was with Tori. That hope was very short-lived.<p>

"Come on, Winter. It's okay," Hiccup soothed her, but having just as much success as Gobber. He cried out when Winter shot up with him clinging onto the dark gray spines. "Tori! Can you calm her down so we can get this done?!"

Tori made soft hushing sounds as she warily approached the Stormcutter. Winter ceased her dodging and growling as she leaned down and met her at eye level. For a moment, the large dragon was calm, but the moment it caught sight of Gobber with the leather, she jumped back and hissed.

"I don't get it!" she stomped her foot. "Do you just not want a saddle? Is that it?"

Winter groaned, turning her back on her rider before shoving her head into Gobber's stall. At the sound of shuffling and rattling, the blacksmith had to ask, "What in Thor's name is she doin'?"

A moment later, her head pulled out and she turned slowly to Tori with a large slab of black leather in her jaws. She pushed it towards Tori and growled almost pleadingly. Tori crossed her arms and said, "Are you serious? You're being like this because you don't like the color?"

The Stormcutter nudged her again, dropping the leather at her trainer's feet before pushing closer with her pincer. Gobber shook his head, "Dragons. Never had one tha' was so picky until now."

The Viking girl shrugged apologetically, "Sorry, Gobber…"

"Bah," he waved a hand dismissively as he walked back into the stall, "The both of ya are just lucky that I've got plenty of black leather te spare. There should be just enough te make the saddle."

Tori smiled just a little as she patted Winter's crown, "I like you, but are you really that much of a diva?"

Winter merely purred loudly in response. It still took a good hour or two, but by then, the saddle was complete. Gobber wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, "If this saddle isn't a masterpiece, I don' know what is."

"I'll say," Hiccup responded, dusting off his tunic before asking, "How's it feeling, Tori?"

Tori squeezed onto the leather handles that stuck out of the front of the saddle. It was comfortable enough for her, and Winter didn't seem to mind either. In fact, she kept circling around and seeing how the saddle felt on her skin. The front was held by a strap that wrapped around Winter's neck, which connected to the seat and two more leather straps travelled across her back and wrapped around the base of her tail.

"It fits great! And I think Winter thinks so, too!"

"Great! Wait and see, Tori! We'll have ye up in the sky in no time!" Gobber exclaimed, slapping a hand down on Winter's back leg.

The Stormcutter's pupils shrunk as she lurched back and roared in surprise. Tori yelped and held on tightly as Winter charged forward and jumped, flapping her wings fiercely as she took to the skies. The two stood there, gaping a bit as Hiccup turned to Gobber with a disbelieving look. He laughed nervously and shrugged, "Hehe. Oops."

"Ah, okay. Toothless," Hiccup called, and the Night Fury calmly walked between them. When the boy mounted Toothless, they took off after the runaway Stormcutter.


End file.
